Seoul Major Universities Regular Admission Competition Rate Hits Lowest in Last 10 Years

Last Year 4.38 to 1 → This Year 3.98 to 1
Cutoff Scores at Regional National Universities Also Plummet
All Applicants Admitted in 44 Departments

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] This year, the average competition rate for regular admissions at major universities in Seoul was the lowest in the past decade. The cutoff scores for regular admissions at regional national universities have sharply declined.

According to Jongno Academy on the 16th, due to the decrease in the school-age population, the average competition rate for regular admissions at the seven major universities in 2021 (Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University, Sogang University, and Ewha Womans University) was 3.98 to 1, down from 4.38 to 1 the previous year, marking the lowest since 2012 (4.37 to 1). The competition rate at regional national universities was also lower at 3.42 to 1 in 2021 compared to 3.98 to 1 in 2020. In 2018, it was 5.05 to 1, and in 2019, 4.43 to 1.

When converting the regular admission cutoff scores (70% cutoff line) to percentiles, the average for the seven major universities in Seoul was 94.2 points, down 0.6 points from the previous year. Sogang University dropped by 1.2 points, Korea University and Sungkyunkwan University each fell by 1.1 points, while only Seoul National University rose by 0.3 points. In contrast, regional national universities recorded 70.1 points, a decrease of 6.2 points from the previous year. Chonnam National University fell by 8.5 points, Jeonbuk National University by 8.1 points, and Chungbuk National University by 7.3 points.

At six universities?Chungbuk National University, Pusan National University, Chonnam National University, Jeju National University, Gyeongsang National University, and Kyungpook National University?across 44 departments, it is estimated that all regular admission applicants were accepted. With 40,000 freshmen unfilled this year, a shortage of enrollees occurred mainly at regional universities, and in the process of filling quotas with additional applicants, cutoff scores became lower than in previous years.

A post on a student community about being accepted to Chungbuk National University’s Department of Mathematics with a math grade of 8 gained attention. The department had 49 regular admission spots but accepted 30 additional students, resulting in all applicants being admitted. The average 70% cutoff percentile dropped significantly to 53.8 points from 66.75 points the previous year, marking the lowest among humanities and natural science recruitment units.

However, in the medical and veterinary fields, even at regional national universities, 11 departments saw an increase in cutoff scores, while 16 departments experienced declines, but the decreases were limited to around 1 point.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.